Millennials are often publicly criticized for being apathetic about the American political process and their lack of interest in political careers. But, are they as uninterested as the media suggests? In my new book, OUT OF THE RUNNING: WHY MILLENNIALS REJECT POLITICAL CAREERS AND WHY IT MATTERS, I write that millennials are not uninterested; rather, they don’t believe that a career in politics is the best way to create change. Millennials are not dumb or selfish, I find, but thoughtful and rational about avoiding the negatives they see in political campaigns, especially women and even more so women of color.

After the 2016 presidential election, many are asking how the American political system can adapt and grow without qualified, intelligent leaders. My interviews with millennials from elite institutions that have historically been a direct link for their graduates into state or federal elected office provide crucial insight, as an absence of diverse millennial candidates leaves the American political system in a precarious and undemocratic position.
I am Assistant Professor of Political Science at Rutgers University-Camden and previously worked with several nonprofit and feminist organizations, including the National Organization for Women (NOW) and The White House Project. I have been interviewed about my research in The Atlantic, VICE, and The New York Times. AMA!

As someone who is definitely not your little sister Gigi Shames, Which creates the most political impact: Writing letters, Twitter/Facebook comments, donating small increments of money like $3 or $5 to a PAC?

What a great question, not my sister. Generally Twitter or FB comments won't make much of a difference to elected officials unless like a million people do it all at once (so pick your timing, join a flood, in that regard) -- writing letters is often taken more seriously, but most serious would be calling (literally, using your phone as a phone) your congressional/senatorial office. Certain PACs may be good to contribute to, but choose your battles wisely -- maybe save up and give $25 all at once to a key one instead of $3 here or there, and pick one that you think is actually doing something meaningful!

SUCH an important question! Several of my interviewees and survey respondents in my research wrote things about how they thought they couldn't run because of internet-based "skeletons in their closet." But I've been watching the European discussion of the "right to be forgotten" case very closely on this point (https://epic.org/privacy/right-to-be-forgotten/ ), as well as Snowden's (and others') campaigns for more privacy in our increasingly-surveillance-based world. I very much hope that YOUR generation can be the one that starts instilling some sensible rules (both for governments and also like peer pressure, nonofficial rules) about what is and is not fair to ask or know about someone! Surely we can all agree not to use something someone did as a child as opposition research in politics??? Can you think of a good way (back to professor mode here, forgive me, but please do answer if you can!) to set up some rules like that that would be reasonable and we could all kind of agree on, and shame reporters or others who are acting like a-holes?

As a soon to be graduating student of Rutgers - New Brunswick who is interested in politics and leans more independent, what's your advice, beyond volunteering for local campaigns, to get political experience specifically in managing a campaign?

A good question. The GWU (or other) school of political management gives great practical courses in campaign management, if you want a degree -- but the best training in politics is really to do politics. If you can, get a job on a campaign, and work your way up. It is a small, tightknit world of political professionals that eventually, at the higher levels, all get to know each other, so find a way in if that is what you want to do (it may have to start with volunteering). You could also start attending local Dem or Repub or other party meetings to get to know the people involved, and bring yourself to their attention as someone interested in campaign management and possibly running!

I've found that most of my apathetic millennial friends are fairly skeptical about how much they can really change things. In recent years, we've seen the advent of voter ID laws, the rise of anonymous campaign donations, and just watched a president lose the popular vote but win the presidency. Do you find that's a reason millennials give for avoiding politics?

Yes, very much so. And frankly, as a political scientist, they are not wrong. The question of money in politics, in fact, was one of the most deterring factors I found in my whole years-long study on why Millennials (rationally, I thought) may not enter politics as a career. To my mind, that is not about Millennials being dumb or selfish at all -- that is them being thoughtful and rational. We NEED to overturn Citizens United and get some reasonable campaign finance reform in this country, because otherwise it is very hard for me to tell my students or other Millennials, hey, you should do this, politics is a good way to make change! They just say "nah, breh" (or other Millennial speak here)

Indeed! Bernie was beloved by so many of my students because he would not play the usual fundraising political game, and they saw him as a real outsider (this was far preferable in their minds to, say, Hillary Clinton, who had been in political news most of their lives). He also clearly sympathized with the facts of their daily lives, like the student debt issue. Politicians need to be thinking about this generation's concerns, as this is the largest generation now.

Do you think the new TV shows about politics in DC (House of Cards, Designated Survivor, Scandal, Madam Secretary, Veep, etc.) has had any hand in this and how millennials do/don't see themselves in office?

Why, yes! You must have read my book! JK. But I speak specifically about Scandal and House of Cards as painting a negative portrayal of politics, esp. at the national level, which feeds into a current cycle of negativity. Other shows that I love as humor (Veep, Alpha House [[sheer brilliance]], and others) do something different, but potentially also negative, which is to show politicians as inept. (I know they often are, but this too is depressing.) Madam Secretary maybe could escape the negative classification; usually (I think?) Tea Leone is portrayed in a more positive light as doing, or trying to do, the right thing. But Scandal's the worst. (BEST, for drama, that is.) Real life is so much less interesting and less corrupt!

Oh, I don't think hardly anyone thinks they are accurate. But political psychologists will tell us that they can have an impact even if we consciously dismiss their accuracy. Scandal especially is good at being totally ridiculous and you don't believe it, but it kind of surrounds politics with a tinge of, well, scandal.

Having seen "the rules for rulers" would you agree that milliniels do not want to accept the Machiavellian darker side of 'effective' politics thus hindering their ability to truly become a key to power?
..or are they so quick to judge/troll that ego won't allow the essential pragmatism needed to gain political power?
...or something else?

What a fabulous question. I think it is probably true that Millennials are more idealistic and would reject a Machiavellian (House of Cards, as per u/sarasolamae12) approach to politics -- in fact, in my interviews a lot of the bright young people I talked to said that "politics" were what got in the way of "good government." The big challenge would be to convince these really bright, thoughtful, caring, and idealistic young people that you STILL can be in politics and can make a difference without "selling your soul" and betraying your principles, but the massive flood of special interest money washing through campaigns right now makes that kind of convincing really hard to do. If we could stem the tide (OVERTURN CITIZENS UNITED!), get some reasonable floors (public funding of campaigns) and ceilings (spending limits), I think that could really help convince good young people that they too can be politicians without compromising their principles. But they will have to learn to make compromises with other well-meaning people on the other side of issues, which I think is also a hard sell, as this is a generation used to having (and speaking!) its mind pretty adamantly. As Jane Mansbridge says, we all (not just Millennials -- current politicians too!) need to learn how to negotiate to agreement -- but not in the Trump "art of the deal" way, more in a diplomacy-style, where everyone gets some but not all of what they want kind of way.

Hi, thanks for doing this! :) What an important topic, and one close to my heart! As a millennial, and seeing many of my friends & close ones exploring more in terms of gender and sexuality, how do you think that these things impact a young person’s decision to run for elected office, especially since democracy tends to thrive off of binaries and tends to be less forgiving of other intersectional individuals we’ve seen? Additionally, do you think it’s more important/impactful for these individuals to RUN as intersectional candidates [such as a transwoman running AS a transwoman] (and potentially lose because of it), or is it easier at this time in history for to vote for individuals who might pass legislation on behalf of others, and just hope that they’ll do so?

What a wonderful question! I think we are growing as a society in understanding of nonbinary gender identity and (hopefully) nonbinary sexuality also, but even just my saying that would confuse most people, especially non-Millennials, so we have a long way to go. The good news is that certain GLBTQ issues, especially marriage rights for g/L people, have moved faster than any of us in the progressive movements would have thought! (I never thought my wife and I could get legally married so quickly, I figured it would take several more decades.) The GLBTQ groups, like the Victory Fund, are finding that gay, lesbian, bi, and sometimes even trans candidates often do better than you would think: https://www.victoryfund.org/get-involved/run-office

This doesn't mean that we're there. But all of it is encouraging to me as signs that we are at least moving in the right direction. The discussion in the last few days about Trump's overturning of the Obama administration trans bathroom policy, for example, is often painful to see -- so much ignorance :( -- but at the same time, the more we discuss this, I hope the more people learn. (?!)

Can you explain why there is bots on all websites exchanging political discourse aka dividing one peasant against another peasant while the elite watch and laugh?
Why does no political person try to stand up to this kind of corruption and manipulation.
http://imgur.com/a/CKtAA for pictures
We all know the end goal

ww3
getting rid of all religions
making sure mcdonalds and pepsi gets into the muslim countries so they can waste their lives just like americans buying things till they do not exist on the planet

Wow, a lot there to talk about. I sense disappointment and anger in your question, which I totally understand. Here is the thing: we don't have some lovely utopian place out there where government does not exist. And there is no perfect government. There is only that which we create. And if we, the masses, put our heads in the sand (including by spending our time not talking about major political issues and fights and just attacking each other over small things), we are not spending that time creating better governance. Yelling about the government is not actually fixing it, we need to all engage at the local level as much as possible and join parties, which is the way that we can get candidates elected and hold them accountable.

You are cool that you responded so quick I am surprised I thought I was going to get ignored. Thank you for responding so much. Not angry or disappointed persay but I am direct and I never hold back. I see past bullshit that a lot of people get into and I let people know that. I have no filter. Like Trump. I do not really want a utopian society I want a society with more options and rewards then to buy things. I think we would be better off with more options. I think it would be the first step to a better society, we will still have our problems but we can conquer that one at a time. I think we would be way more happier and less dysfunctional. I am not saying to get rid of doing this completely but the people who enjoy it let them, and the people who do not like it find what they need and let them give back to society. Maybe they are givers rather than receivers and if they cannot give back they feel left out. And that is not out of work, but out of their own heart and soul. I am a bit worried that the only goal that humans have is to consume products. All of our lively hood is dedicated to just that. Grade a = grade a products we are all shoehorned into it and are very tired of it. You try to opt out of it you become a beggar on the street. Or you go live in complete isolation away from society and you get ostracized for not wanting items. There is no in between. When it comes to a govt I support fixing the infrastructure of the state and doing exactly what you are talking about. I also like complete transparency. You also didnt talk about the bots. Would you expose the bots to the general masses and become a edward snowden or would you just sweep it under the rug, and act like they do not exist.

I guess that's it, folks! What a wonderful discussion, THANK YOU all for the great questions. Buy the book. Run for office! Remember: a democracy is only as its involved citizens, because they are where the power ultimately lies. Thanks.

So glad you liked the book. No, JK. I love all kinds of movies. Lately my favorite is Mad Max: Fury Road (my newest book I am working on is about dystopian fiction and government!), but also love old b&w's (Bringing Up Baby!), also surrealist martial arts (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), and Pulp Fiction. Also anything Cohen bros.

Great question, thanks! As we can see in the multiple rallies led by Millennials (http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-protests-idUSKBN15Z206 ), they are generally not fans. I actually think that this Trump presidency could inspire a whole generation of Millennials to see the REWARDS of politics as outweighing the COSTS, as documented in my book -- in particular, they might be seeing the REWARD of, say, living in a democracy...

Hello BootStrapsBilly -- the most important thing to know about politics, and specifically running for office, is that it is all at root geographical. All politics, as Tip O'Neill famously said, is local. So get to know your local party officials, whatever party you are in -- go to their meetings, go to city council and school board or other types of meetings, start figuring out the structure of the political party in your area FROM THE GROUND UP. Parties may seem like something solid, but they are just networks of people. Bring yourself to the attention of the people in charge, introduce yourself, say you want to volunteer, and/or you want to run, get noticed! (Is that three things?) :)

Of course not. Any time you have millions of people in a category, no one word is very descriptive. Millennials are no more a cohesive group than blacks or women or queer people, because we are all total individuals. But there are sometimes certain either trends or patterns of interest. So some good research shows that there are some key variables on which the average for "Millennials" is higher, like use of social media, say, and entrepreneurship. That doesn't mean all Millennials are entrepreneurs -- but on average, this is a generation that is somewhat more interested, say, in being their own boss than in joining established institutions, than the previous generation (and this is measurable). But no one group label should be used to infer anything about an individual - like, not all Latinos speak Spanish, say. But on average, more do than, say, my people (Jews).

Neither, actually -- I set out with a question about women's political ambition, and then wanted to expand that to look at the political ambition of women and people of color, and try to do that intersectionally (as per u/Cheyology !), and the sample I decided to look at was in graduate school -- but when I started looking at the interview and survey data, I found there was a larger and more interesting story. Race and gender, I found, operate powerfully but at the margins -- the far more interesting story here was that for MOST people, the rewards of running do not, sadly, outweigh the many costs! So I went to my advisers in my dissertation program, and told them this was the bigger finding, and they told me, "Make the bug the program." :)

Very interesting book. Do you think your findings would be different if you conducted the study today given the increase in political engagement we have seen by Millennials post election? More specifically, do you think that "political attacks" on particular populations will stimulate engagement? For instance, LGBTQ political literature suggests that political attacks increase mobilization and engagement among LGBTQ persons and trans people are often more likely to be politically active even with enormous barriers (name changes, miss match documents, harassment etc.).

Thank you! I very much hope the book is interesting to those outside of my rather narrow discipline. :) I wrote it to be read by the public, not just political scientists.

And YES, if I had the money, I would do this same survey RIGHT NOW -- what a wonderful opportunity to test what I (and I think you!) would hypothesize is a major shift happening BEFORE OUR VERY EYES in Millennial attitudes toward electoral politics. As it turns out, who gets elected matters. Elections have consequences. Not voting is really not a good solution, I think a lot have learned. Because this government is going to govern you, whether you like it or not! The only solution is to get involved. (My high school chemistry teacher used to say, if you are not part of the problem, you are part of the precipitate.) (I know, IMA nerd.) I CANNOT TELL YOU how strongly I hope that the past few weeks of major political attacks (on immigrants, on Muslims, now on trans students) will motivate political reaction (not just FB and Twitter posts, please!), but things like showing up for town hall congressional meetings, calling one's Senator, going to local city government meetings, things where established political figures (elected officials, party members) will sit up and take notice! This new generation REALLY strongly feels differently than the Boomers on a lot of issues, they need to learn how to effectively make that known.